KDs are designed/developed/inspired/mused/auto-suggested/indigested to make folks think; an especially uncommon experience among Democrats, Republicans, and jingoistic mainline denominationalists who continue to discourage dissent with their ever-threatening thought police.

Coming as a big shock to the people of Delaware, Joe
Biden says Scranton, Pennsylvania is his home.

I guess he’s not learned a thing or two from wazzername
trying to succeed his boss in D.C.

Well, maybe, he’s not that far off.

I grew up in the Wilkes-Barre–Scranton area of NE
Pennsylvania; and while I hope nobody remembers my less-than-stellar moments in
those formative years, I always like going back to see my parents, sister, and
relatives while insisting the cuisine, especially pizza, is unparalleled.

Yeah, my home, to the chagrin of atheists and agnostics
and denominational jingoists and religious imperialists who think they’ve got
the right to turn people away from the table that the Lord Himself invited and
the people who left the church after I took it from ‘em and gave it back to
Jesus, is Belvidere, Illinois until I’m assassinated or Grandpa Jacob’s cancer
genes kick in.

Psst.

Don’t tell anyone – our government isn’t because they
don’t think we’re mature enough to handle truth and would go Miley Cyrus if we
knew what they know and won’t warn us so we could exercise some of the Bill of
Rights and protect ourselves – but I could be knocked off by an
Islamofascistnutball savage because they’re targeting Christians in the
hinterlands.

Soft targets in an increasingly soft…

Unlike wazzername’s husband who lies too, I
inhaled in my senior year at Wyoming Valley West; but quit before college
because I wasn’t getting much work done and spent too much money at Burger King
while wazzername’s husband was spending too much money at McDonald’s.

Never into cigarettes, I smoked a pipe while studying in
Germany; because I liked it and it improved my grades if you know what I
mean.

I switched to cigars a few years later because I had
to carry around too much pipe stuff, was burning holes in my shirts and ties,
Dr. McCord smoked cigars and he was P of my seminary as well as the World
Alliance of Reformed Churches, a guy in Kansas City gave a box of Cubans to me
every December 26 over dinner, and, uh, well, uh, I just, uh, like the taste.

When I was making the switch, I also remembered a cigar
company in Scranton that makes the best little 100% U.S. selected tobacco
sticks that I’d always really liked.

Parodi cigars.

During my recent retreat home – missed Joe who was
there a week earlier to tell homeys that they should vote for wazzername because
wazzhisname is such a, uh, donkey as if she weren’t such a, uh,… - I
decided to visit the factory after savoring a Parodi after savoring a superior
slice from Serpico’s.

Psst.

I like Serpico’s; and just about every other pizza
joint in Wyoming Valley. I just happened
to have eaten one of their better than anything out here in Chicagoland
imitations. So kudos to Serpico’s and
the rest of the best on the planet.

I called and receptionist Renee arranged for plant
manager Andrew to provide a tour.

Avanti has been around since 1901 when Dominic Anthony
and Frank Suraci came from Italy to produce a product and legend loved by the
likes of Frank Sinatra, Francis Ford Coppola, and, uh, non-best-selling author
and iconoclastic pastor, uh, me.

You can go to www.avanticigar.com
or write to customerservice@avanticigar.com
for more history, a catalogue of selections, introduction to their unique
process as the only producer of dry-cured cigars in America using only
American-grown tobacco from Kentucky and Tennessee, and ordering.

I’m writing about the visit for five reasons.

First, if you’re into cigars, there are no better
products on the face of the earth at such astonishingly reasonable prices. While I’ve always been a traditional Parodi
guy, I smoked one of their new Parodi Specials with Andrew after my tour
and I’ve never smoked anything better from anywhere at any price. It’s not too strong and not that mild and
just about right!

Second, like it or not, I’ve added Renee and Andrew to my
www.koppdisclosure.com mailing
list because they are patriots and exemplify the best of a vanishing work ethic
in America. Indeed, I was overwhelmed by
the positive pride, competence, care, quality, ethics, and longevity of the
employees as most have worked for Avanti for decades. Several have been on line for as long as I’ve
been ordained (5/8/77)!

Third, recalling Avanti was started by Italian immigrants
and recently majority-owner purchased by a parent company in Italy, I was
reminded that America is the only country that has woven different ethnicities
into a cooperative and mostly harmonious fabric of citizenship. America is great because it has blended the
qualities of diversity into a unity of passion for life, liberty, and the
common pursuit of happiness. BTW,
America got the idea from God! Check out
Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 juxtaposed to our Constitution for some hints.

Fourth, I like my home away from home and I’m proud of
‘em in a Christian kinda way.

Fifth, again, I like their products and like to tell
people about good stuff.

The plant is being renovated in the coming months to add
a boutique, smoking parlor, museum, and opportunities for more tours of part of
America’s roots and possibilities for the future.

If Renee and Andrew don’t mind, I will stop by when next
visiting the upper-octogenarians, inlaws, and outlaws, place a direct order,
share a smoke, and thank God that there are Genesis 18 folks left in America
who still look forward with a foundation built upon the best of our past.